La. Gov. John Bel Edwards claims he will cancel college football over taxes

[jbcarol]

Timmy Teepell
‏@TimmyTeepell
Not the Onion #lagov just announced on statewide tv that he will cancel college football next year unless #lalege raises taxes.


https://twitter.com/KelsWingert/status/697951627865518080

[Uncommon]

Won't happen for LSU but could for the smaller in-state programs.

[Rzbakfromwaybak]

Lol.  If that Gov. tries to cancel LSU football this fall, those Cajun corn dog's will feed him to the alligators in one of those swamps.   

[returntoglory]

Just read on ESPN about financial crisis in Louisiana and how it could potentially shut down universities, LSU included. Any validity to this?

[returntoglory]

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/14764642/louisiana-gov-john-bel-edwards-threatens-future-lsu-tigers-football-tax-proposals-passed

[spe450]

I know they froze TOPS payments to universities.  This will really hurt the baseball programs.

[returntoglory]

Forgive my ignorance, what is TOPS?

[BRHogfan]

Forgive my ignorance, what is TOPS?

TOPS - Taylor Opportunity Program for Students is a scholarship offered for Louisiana Students going to Louisiana schools.

[spe450]

Forgive my ignorance, what is TOPS?

It's a scholarship for Louisiana students that stay in state.  This allows basically the entire LSU baseball team to be on or near full scholarship.

[bighog2255]

This screams of your usual political scare tactic for their governor to get his tax increases passed. No way they would ever legitimately consider cancelling LSU football

[Hawk]

That is exactly what it is!

Louisiana is the only state I have ever lived in that the state taxes cost you more than the federal taxes. It's a joke!  The big problem, as I see it, is that LA insists on paying all of it's retired politician's not only their state benefits, but their pay as well until they actually die. (and you know with LA politics, dying is not a sure way to take a person off the voting lists) So who knows how long they actually get paid???

My stepdaughter was a tops beneficiary, and it's a great program that provided a whole lot of kids the ability to further their education. It's a shame that the huge waste the state commits each year will endanger it. But hide and watch, this is a ploy to make higher state taxes more palatable in the emergency session that begins Sunday. (like they need more of my money)

As to football, LSU's team is not endangered in any way. An athletic scholarship in football has absolutely nothing to do with tops.

Louisiana politics at it's finest.

[jbcarol]

Jim Kleinpeter ‏@JimKleinpeter 17m17 minutes ago

Cutting TOPS funding spells doom for state college athletic programs: Ron Higgins #lsu, @lsufball http://s.nola.com/EaWIDtd

It's not often in Skip Bertman's 18 years as LSU's baseball coach followed by 7½ years as the school's athletic director that he got blindsided by the unknown on the horizon.

But he was absolutely floored Thursday night when he learned the breaking news that any in-state Louisiana college students on TOPS scholarships will have to pay for all or most their tuition bills starting next year.

Jay Dardenne, new Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards' budget chief, had to play the reluctant role of the Grim Reaper Thursday afternoon. He announced the shrinking state budget leaves TOPS about $28 million short of what it takes to fully fund the program through the end of the current semester.

While no students currently receiving TOPS would lose their scholarships mid-semester, they'll have to foot the bill next year when only $65 million will be available for TOPS scholarships.

"This is going to hurt every sports program at every university in this state," Bertman said.

Why?

Because aside from football and basketball, whose expansive NCAA scholarship limits pay the complete freight for just about every player on the roster, the rest of the sports (both men's and women's) with considerably less scholarships rely heavily on TOPS to recruit in-state athletes.

[jbcarol]

Ross Dellenger ‏@RossDellenger 14h14 hours ago

Friendly reminder: #LSU football turned a profit of $57 million last year, and TAF gave LSU athletics $14M.

http://bit.ly/1W8d0id

[SamBuckhart]

Were that it were true.

[lahawg1]

Tops was funded by the Louisiana tobacco settlement and now that money is gone.

[ARtillahog]

Tops was funded by the Louisiana tobacco settlement and now that money is gone.

Heck LSU was looking at bankruptcy last year.  http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/04/lsu_academic_bankruptcy.html

[jbcarol]

Rebekah Allen Verified account
‏@rebekahallen

It's done. agreements reached on 1 cent hike, cleaning pennies and cutting budget. These were the main ones nec to balance budget. #lalege


Ross Dellenger ‏@RossDellenger 14h14 hours ago

Ross Dellenger Retweeted Rebekah Allen

Does this mean #LSU will field a football team next season?

Asking for a friend.

[jbcarol]

Elizabeth Crisp ‏@elizabethcrisp 4h4 hours ago

INBOX: @louisianagov will hold a press conference at 3 pm to announce latest $70m in budget cuts. #lalege #lagov

[Rzbakfromwaybak]

Elizabeth Crisp ‏@elizabethcrisp 4h4 hours ago

INBOX: @louisianagov will hold a press conference at 3 pm to announce latest $70m in budget cuts. #lalege #lagov

Budget now balanced.  They cut all free corn dogs for state employees on lunches & breaks.   

[Inhogswetrust]

Budget now balanced.  They cut all free corn dogs for state employees on lunches & breaks.   

I doubt 70 mill in budget cuts doesn't account for all that! It would probably take twice that just to cover state employees benefits like corndgos!

[jbcarol]

Rebekah Allen Verified account
‏@rebekahallen

Breakdown of which schools will absorb the $28 million TOPS budget cut for higher Ed. LSU cut $10 mill #lalege

[jbcarol]

Update:

Elizabeth Crisp ‏@elizabethcrisp 20h20 hours ago

.@lsuprez says #LSU has received "thousands" of emails about the future of TOPS, as students decide where to enroll. #lalege

Louisiana Board of Regents chair Richard Lipsey said #OleMiss is #1 school wooing Baton Rouge residents away in budget crisis. #lalege #lsu

.@JayJaymorris3 on claim that #OleMiss is poaching Louisiana kids: "They have lower standards, so it's easier to get in there." #LSU

[jbcarol]

Elizabeth Crisp ‏@elizabethcrisp 22h22 hours ago

.@LouisianaGov turns to a football analogy on budget crisis: "I can't be the quarterback and the receiver." #lalege #lagov #lsu

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fRpQZnuBg9c

[jbcarol]

Elizabeth Crisp ‏@elizabethcrisp 1h1 hour ago

#LSU Board on track to increase fees for students, less than a day after TOPS awards cut  http://bit.ly/28ThvNs  via @theadvocatebr #lalege

[LSUFan]

Louisiana has too many colleges.

[jbcarol]

https://twitter.com/Michael_Carvell/status/887810865927421954

Difficult is better than cancelled